Problems with Catalyst Center 06.6 installation

DamoKen

Hi, just gone ahead with a long overdue overhaul on my pc, sound card drivers, bios update and finally graphic driver update. Both the sound and bios went fine (as far as I can tell), but having a strange problem with the Catalyst Center update. Followed the usual procedure, used the ATI unistaller, rebooted ignoring windows dialogs concerning new hardware, then drive cleaner and finally reg cleaner to remove all trace of any ati references. Went and ran the new CCC setup exe, no errors given so rebooted.

Got the message "CCC checking for optimal settings" etc so looked good. However I immediately noticed that the refresh rate on the screen was the same as when you uninstall your drivers. Also opened the CCC to check a few things out, clicked on the 3D option in the menu and got a dialog telling me "The currently used OpenGL driver does not support the required extensions to run the 3D preview"?

So decided to try and run a game and see what message I'd get there as I knew it hadn't a hope of running. Tried Rome Total War and got a message telling me "Rome Total War failed to find DirectX 9, which is required for the game to run. Please reinstall DirectX".

Now I've updated CCC in the past and always followed the same procedure, never got this before but it looks like no drivers are present and yet CCC seems to be running correctly, my Display Adapter is set to my card and it reports enabled and working correctly.

I downloaded the lastest DirectX just for the hell of it and installed, rebooted to see if there was any difference, no joy though.

Does anyone have any idea whats going on here? I could go back to my restore point but would rather not as I was starting to get a few problems with newer games and an update was well in order.

Cheers for any help

8T8

Not familiar with reg cleaner but from the title I have an idea what it does but that is not a step that was necessary and could have done some damage.

Did you install the April 2006 DirectX 9 build ?

What does dxdiag say ?

Check the version of your graphic cards driver in the device manager is it the same as the Catalyst 6.6 it should be v8.263

DamoKen

Hi 8T8, I did the reg clean based on tips from tweakguide.com, it's a fairly decent site I've used in the past. Anyway it wasn't any serious editing, there was just the one entry and I think it was just a temp location used by ATI for expanding files to install. Checked my graphic driver version and it's v8.263.0.0. Also looked at dxdiag and what I saw could be an indication of the problem. I can't run Direct3D tests as it's not available, neither is AGP Texture acceleration or DirectDraw Acceleration though I can run the Test DirectDraw. The message below is given in the Notes: section as well

"Direct3D functionality not available. You should verify that the driver is a final version from the hardware manufacturer."

The version Im using is DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904). I just tried doing a complete uninstall reinstall again but no joy. This is really weird, it seems to see my card but is treating it like some really crappy onboard grahics, my card by the way is a x800xt pe which by the hardware report is functioning correctly.

8T8

Hmmm... unusual problem.

Try this;
Remove display driver and CCC
Run driver cleaner & remove left overs
Boot into safe mode
Check device manager for any remaining entries of graphics card under display adaptors and remove.
Boot back into windows
Ignore prompts for display driver
Install latest official chipset drivers for your motherboard (if your AGP based do re-install AGP driver).
After reboot now install display driver only (you can see it linked on the ATI driver page in the low speed dial up section)
Fingers crossed check dxdiag to see if Direct3D is operational.

DamoKen

think I may have found what's causing it, not sure though as it was my first time doing a bios update. I noticed earlier after the update on the post screen the message cmos checksum bad, with an option to use default settings. I tried this and thankfully it worked. Everything seemed alright until I then went to update the ati drivers. I've since tried to do a restore back to before I did the ati driver update but the system restore failed. In fact I had to then go through safe mode to undo the restore.

So, I've now tried to flash the bios back to the original which I backed up earlier, however I'm still getting the message cmos checksum bad on post.

So at the moment I'm not sure if I want to mess around any more with the bios, the update I got for it was downloaded from the ASUS site, for a 939 Asus V8 deluxe board so I assumed it would work correctly, the version number on the bios after the update matched that on the site, as it now matches the old bios after flashing it with the backup.

As I said though, this is not really my area so I'm unsure as to what impact this could have on the rest of the system. Any ideas?

8T8

After a bios update you should clear the CMOS manually via the jumper on the motherboard, 8 times out of 10 you don't need to but in some instances it causes corruption in the bios which can only be cleared by a proper wipe of the CMOS.

After doing that you will need to setup your bios again with the correct settings as the prior saved settings will not be used.

DamoKen

cheers for all the replies 8T8, girlfriends arrived out so going to have to leave it til tomorrow night . I'll try the jumper reset as you suggested and see how that goes. By reset does that mean though it flushes the cmos? Would I then need to reinstall the bios update again? Also by correct settings do you mean the settings I had set myself on the original bios?

Once again thanks for all the help. Will let you know tomorrow night how I get on.

8T8

When you clear the CMOS is resets the bios so it forgets whatever saved settings it has it doesn't downgrade to an earlier bios.

If you want to use the latest bios again just flash it & then clear the CMOS afterwords.

As for the settings yes anything you changed in the bios will be forgotten after clearing the CMOS and will be reset to the factory default.

DamoKen

Ok where to start? I decided first off to try and restore my machine back to it's orginal state of 2 days ago, meaning original bios, sound drivers,graphics drivers.

But before I even got this far I noticed a change in the post messages when I booted up. It now stated that a new CPU had been installed? As there was no error message this time round I decided to do a system restore back to before I had installed any new drivers. The last bios flash I'd done by the way was back to the original I'd made a back up of.
Anyway restarted the machine, system restore worked fine but no change in graphics, i.e still getting things like "Direct3D functionality not available. You should verify that the driver is a final version from the hardware manufacturer" from dxdiag.

So decided to reset the CMOS and try again, tried the jumper option first and restarted. Message displayed in post was along the lines of "CMOS checksum bad, CMOS data and time not set", F1 to set, F2 to apply default settings". Hit F1 and changed the clock plus a few other settings I originally had such as Cool & Quiet enabled.

Machine boots again and again the message "new CPU installed is displayed"! . Still no change in graphics yet again. Ok, this time I decide to discount the possiblity there is something wrong with the new Catalyst Control Center I've downloaded and reinstall the original drivers I got with my card. So go through the usual unistall procedure (leaving out the reg clean) and restart pressing F8 to go into safe mode. Instead of safe mode though I am displayed a list of my drives and asked to choose a boot option? So I choose my main drive and normal boot occurs. I then run msconfig and change boot options to boot from safe mode and hit apply to be told "Cannot apply changes administrator priviledges needed" though I am logged on as admin. I exit from the System Config Utility and login again just to be sure. Go back into msconfig and find that despite the error message it has changed the boot option to safe mode.
So I restart my machine and boot into safe mode, go to hardware devices and find nothing is listed at all?
Ok, change boot options again and reboot normally, install the ATI drivers off the cd, quite old and before CCC. Restart my machine fingers crossed and..., same as before!
Final idea, flash bios to new downloaded bios in case backup is corruptted, reset CMOS through jumpers plus remove litium battery as well to ensure settings flushed. Start by removing ati drivers again, same procedure except this time when I press F8 I get the options menu and choose Safe Mode. I can also see the X800XT card under devices so remove it and the secondary X800XT listed. Restart, flash bios, remove battery, change jumpers and restart again.

Again message "CMOS checksum bad, CMOS date and time not set"! Go through all the crap of resetting values, reinstalling old ati drivers and back to where I was when I started! Plus the message "New CPU detected" on next boot same as last times.

I'm totally fresh out of ideas at this stage, not even sure what is the cause behind it, was it the original bios flash, the soundcard drivers, the ati drivers? Googled that dxdiag problem "Direct3D functionality not available..." and got a lot of results pointing to driver incompatibility with directx so that windows would not allow access to directx, would explain the message when I tried to start a game stating directx not present.

Sorry for such a long post, head is just wrecked at this stage! By the way 8T8 I'm not sure by what you meant with this "Install latest official chipset drivers for your motherboard (if your AGP based do re-install AGP driver)." . How would I know what the AGP driver is for instance, sorry but motherboards are not my strongest subject . My board by the way is an ASUS AV8 Deluxe. Checked out the forum on their site to see if anyone had come across this before, first impression I got was that support is non existent, second was that a lot of people have had problems with bios updates, just wished I'd looked there before doing it! Then again, my machine did seem to function ok after this, it was only when I installed the lastest CCC version that things went to sh*t!

Cheers for any answers

8T8

Okay something seriously messed up there

The ASUS AV8 Deluxe uses a VIA chipset which has an AGP port which your graphics card plugs into, these are the drivers for said chipset so install these and see how it goes.

Not sure about the new CPU found messages could just be from the bios update properly ID'ing the CPU are those messages in the bios or in windows?

Also something sounds wrong with your admin privileges. Do a scan for viruses and spyware with Windows Defender just in case something is lurking in the background that is messing with the system.

Either way if you are running with the latest official bios v1017 stick with it for the time being.

Also run this from the start menu->run box sfc /scannow it will check the OS files and make sure they are intact.

When you pressed F8 it probably brought up the inbuilt bios boot from device feature, you just have to time it a bit better to actually get it to boot into safe mode by waiting a bit more, I wouldn't set it via msconfig either to always boot into safe mode.

Do you have the XP CD-ROM you could try repairing XP if you boot from the disc it should give you the option of restoring XP without wiping the hard disc (if you can I'd try this but back up your important data).

Finally you might want to consider the nuclear option of a format with a clean install of WinXP & then load in the latest drivers.

As to what caused it I've no idea but something underlying in the registry I'd bet must have been what started this.

DamoKen

Hi 8T8, I'll check out the via drivers this evening when I get home. Also been reading up on all the bios agp settings and what they should be for my card so I'll check off the ones I wasn't sure of tonight, don't think I overlooked any but wouldn't hurt to look again just in case some settings got screwed up.
The admin priviledges is a bit strange alright, I'll try a scan on that too as well as run the sfc /scannow as you suggestted.
The message "New CPU found/detected" comes up the second time round when I reboot after flashing the bios, first time I get the message "CMOS checksum bad, CMOS date/time" not set, set the time etc, save settings so it reboots again. The CPU message then appears in the POST after which I can boot Windows normally.
I'd agree with you on the reasons, makes sense after resetting the bios settings to default or custom that the next time around the update would be id'ing the cpu, message is a little confusing but doesn't look like an error.

To be honest I flashed the bios exactly as it should be done, only reason I did it was it didn't look like rocket science so I'm inclined to agree with you and think this is more a software glitch, something conflicting in the registry or such. Was sure I'd performed the ati driver update right though, I've done it a few times in the past and never had a problem.

The last resort option has been banging on the door since this morning anyway, that is to reformat the drive. Before doing that though trying an XP repair would be a good idea, and one I'd forgotten existed. Yeah I have the disk so I'll try that too before going the format road.

Thanks again for the very helpful suggestions, I'll keep you posted

DamoKen

ok, well it looks like last resort got sick of knocking and has just kicked the door in. tried a repair last night, total pain to be honest. Firstly a dialog comes up halfway through asking for the path of a VIA sys file from the VIA filter driver disk which I'd never heard of and wasn't included on the motherboard disk, and then I couldn't even cancel it due to my keyboard and mouse not being picked up during the repair, could only assume it had wiped the usb drivers and hadn't got around to reinistalling them prior to this dialog.

So had to call around to a few mates at 11pm (bit late but as I'm heading to Oxegen for the weekend today didn't want to leave it hanging until Monday), finally nicked a keyboard and mouse from the pc I gave my mother last year as a pressie .

In the end had to turn off and restart the repair anyway as it didn't pick this up either until then. Finally got the repair done, cancelling that dialog and then downloaded the via.zip file you linked to. Before I installed it though noticed another odd behavior. Was getting error message when windows started complaining about ati drivers not being found so couldn't start up the ATI Control Panel (this is from the original ATI driver disk I'd reinstalled). Fair enough I thought as I've just done a repair the drivers might have been deleted.

So go to start Control Panel to remove the ATI Control Panel from add/remove, get a Windows Explorer error, you know the message asking do you want to send a report. Hmmm, bit strange, looks like the repair has screwed a few things up. Ok then, go into the ATI folder in Program Files anyway and run the uninstall exe. Removes all ATI stuff fine. Reboot and run drivercleaner to get rid of residue files. Ok then, I know there's something wrong with WinXp as I can't start the Control Panel so I'll do a repair again.

Before that though, I run the VIA setup exe to install the VIA drivers, just to see if maybe that file the Windows Repair utility was looking for, the VIA sys file is the cause of this.

So run this and am asked to reboot. Fine, boot away, only this time don't make it to the Windows logon screen, instead I get an error message telling me windows cannot start due to some system dll not being found and to run the repair utility to fix this!

Arrrghh!! ok, boot from cd again, run the repair, this time when the dialog appears asking for the VIA sys file I can direct it to the expanded via.zip folder where it now resides. Repair goes smoothly and finally get to restart windows.

Now I get a Windows error dialog (standard "do you want to send a report etc") on my desktop, click cancel, another one, click cancel again, another one, click... well you get the idea. Then, after about 6 dialogs it seems to clear up, no more errors, well apart from can't use Windows Control Panel. I've already decided at this stage (2am I believe that nuking is the only option left I can think of), but I decide, for old times sake to try reinstalling the ATI drivers one last time. So go through the setup one last time, reboot, and viola! Same as poxy before.

Anyway, sorry for the rant , I'm forgetting about it now for the weekend and going to concentrate on getting outrageously drunk at Oxegen before coming back Monday and then (if I feel up to it), formatting and reinstalling. Can't really see any other option at this point.

Cheers

8T8

Yeah I'd go cool off before it does your head in I know the feeling all too well.

It sounds like the drivers & registry have been corrupted badly I think a format is the path of least resistance to get the system co-operating again.

There is one other thing though but I cannot recall the link, basically you remove some keys from the registry and XP will forget about all the hardware in the system essentially a driver purge. On the next reboot it will then go about re-installing all the drivers for the hardware in the system but I cant remember the exact procedure.

I'll Google see if anything comes up about it.

DamoKen

Hi 8T8, yeah at this point I think I'll quit banging my head off the wall and format (neighbours are starting to complain about the noise ) . That driver purge sounds interesting though, would be happy to give that a go first.

Though thinking about it, I know the system isn't stable at the moment, i.e WinXp Control Panel error on opening, a format though painful might just be the best option. To be honest my system has gotten a little sluggish compared to a year ago so been holding this one on the long finger for a while.

Would have liked to finish F.E.A.R first though, gave the disk to my brother who's gone to the states so can't reinstall after . If you come up with anything on the driver purge I'd really appreciated hearing about it, even if it doesn't solve this would be handy to know.

Let you know next week how it goes.

Cheers mate

Damo

8T8

Cant find link to that it driver removal hack so no go on that front I'm afraid.

What you could try is when in windows put in the XP CD and when the menu comes up click on install XP it will default to "upgrade" but instead choose "new installation" and try getting XP back on it's feet though that method.

Be aware that may disable some of your programs and possibly wipe the contents of your My Documents folder so back up any data before doing this.

DamoKen

Just a quick update, formatted and reinstalled Windows last night. Ran dxdiag and Direct3D Acceleration is now enabled when I install my old ati drivers. AGP Texture Acceleration though is still not available. Haven't reinstalled the latest chipset drivers though so might try uninstalling the ati drivers tonight, install the via drivers and then reinstall the ati drivers and see if that works. I'm more or less sure I should have AGP Acceleration enabled with an x800xt?

I'll also recheck my bios settings on the chipset prior to this to make sure all is as it should be.

Another thing I noticed last night after reinstalling Windows and the ati drivers, I reinstalled my asdl modem drivers and went to connect to the internet. It looks like it's connecting ok, but I get a timeout on any page I try to access.
I'm not too sure what to make of this as when I check the connection it says connected and gives bytes recieved/sent? Anyway I'll try that tonight again too and hopefully it was just a glitch with my provider. Didn't really have time to do more than the reformat last night.

cheers

Damo

8T8

You should install the chipset drivers first then the graphics drivers as the AGP driver is in the VIA driver package.

The AGP Texture Acceleration problem can be caused from a variety of issues;
Not installing the chipset drivers
Compatibility issue with bios/driver - ATi drivers may disable it.
AGP miniport driver not properly loaded from chipset vendor

You needn't worry about more using more recent ATI drivers they should be perfectly fine.

As for the DSL modem is it connected via USB ?, you could try connecting it via ethernet if it has the capability if not take down the settings of your ISP and force a reset of the device and see if anything changes.

It could just be normal I get occasional time outs every now and then.

DamoKen

Hi 8T8, yeah was planning installing in that order after double checking my bios settings. As for the modem, no it's only a usb, what do you mean by "take down the settings of your ISP and force a reset of the device"?

once again, thanks for the advice

8T8

Depending on your Internet service provider for example Eircom keep there DSL settings listed here, you can force essentially the equivalent of wiping the CMOS with the DSL modem but it's called resetting the firmware in this case.

In the options for the modem buried in some menu you will find the reset button or sometimes there is a physical button on the device that must be pressed.

After the reset you must then setup up the connection to your ISP again.

Alternatively simply pull the power from the DSL modem and power it on again - that doesn't do reset but it's a lot easier to try.

DamoKen

Well I finally got it sorted. Checked my bios settings, nothing out of order so decided to go through the uninstall ati drivers, update the 4 in 1 via package. Just before I did this though I remembered I hadn't updated WinXp to Service Pack 2 since the format, as I've got this on a cd went ahead and did that first, restarting afterwards. Checked my AGP Texture Acceleration in dxdiag afterwards and guess what? Enabled!

Anyway decided to push my luck and go ahead with updating everything else, if something conflicted I'd rather it happen now than 1 month down the road when I've got a load of stuff on the drive and have to go the format road again.

So did all that last night, rebooted and all seems well for the moment. I'll install one or 2 demanding games later this week and check how they perform but looks like it's back in one piece.

Oh and my internet connection seems to be fine, worked without a bother the minute I turned on last night so must have just been something with my provider.

Once again 8T8, cheers for all the advice and usefull tips, total pain of a week but believe it or not I actually ended up enjoying it. Needed to format at some stage anyway and this way I also learnt a lot

Damo

crossya0va

I am having the exact same problem as you and cannot fix it. I am not having problems with my internet connection though. Can you give me a step by step instruction on how you fixed it please!

8T8

crossya0va wrote:

I am having the exact same problem as you and cannot fix it. I am not having problems with my internet connection though. Can you give me a step by step instruction on how you fixed it please!

It wasn't fixed per say, the corruption of the registry and drivers was so bad he had to format the hard drive and do a clean install of XP after that everything was back in working order.

Are you having the exact same problem as him or just something similar like for instance you cant install the Catalyst 6.6 drivers ?

Or are you talking about the AGP texture acceleration problem, the solution to that is install SP2 for WinXP if you haven't and then install the chipset drivers for your motherboard.

DamoKen

crossya0va wrote:

I am having the exact same problem as you and cannot fix it. I am not having problems with my internet connection though. Can you give me a step by step instruction on how you fixed it please!

As 8T8 has already said, I ended up having to format my hard drive to clear up the problem which was almost certainly registry corruption. What exactly are you having the problem with and how did it happen? If you read back through the thread you'll see various options I tried and solutions 8T8 suggested.
By the way just to clarify on the AGP Acceleration, it was only after I did the format and reinstallation of WinXp, and then installed Service Pack 2 that it became enabled. The reinstallation of WinXP on it's own wasn't sufficient, however I'm not sure if this would be machine spec specific or a general rule.

crossya0va

I have re formatted my drive and I STILL have the issue. In the DxDiag, DIRECT3D Acceleration, DirectDraw, and AGP Texture all are disabled and cannot be enabled. I have even went as far to try installing XP 64 Pro, and the problem is still there.

EDIT
I just installed catalyst 5.6 and open up dxdiag and direct 3d and direct draw are enabled, but agp texture is still disabled. I went to start, run, SmartGart, and noticed all the AGP Settings are off. I enabled them, but after restart they are the same. Where in BIOS do I go to enable it? I go into the AGP, and it seems like everything is on properly.

8T8

What kind of motherboard and chipset do you have ?

DamoKen

crossya0va wrote:

I just installed catalyst 5.6 and open up dxdiag and direct 3d and direct draw are enabled, but agp texture is still disabled. I went to start, run, SmartGart, and noticed all the AGP Settings are off. I enabled them, but after restart they are the same. Where in BIOS do I go to enable it? I go into the AGP, and it seems like everything is on properly.

ok, I had the same problem after reinstalling WinXp and installing 5.6 in that the AGP Acceleration was still disabled. I noticed the same thing on SmartGart too, enabling the AGP settings and restarting didn't work either. Have you also reinstalled Service Pack 2? That worked for me. After which I uninstalled 5.6, updated my chipset drivers and then installed CCC 6.6 and everything is working fine now, in fact one of the original reasons I wanted to do a complete overhaul on my machine was a new game I had was crashing everytime I loaded it up. Installed last night and played for 2 hours no problems!

As 8T8 has mentioned as well, your chipset drivers might have something to do with it. Here's an article focusing on that.
http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/71C3DE07F9D6CA9DCA2570810010FF4B

crossya0va

My copy of Windows already came with SP2, so should I download SP2 and re install it?

I have an Abit KV8 Pro which is the K8T800 chipset.

Edit:: Just tried the method that was listed on the website DamoKen, and I get the same exact error. I followed it step for step and restarted the computer when it was stated. I am trying your method now.

Edit 2: I Just tried your method with re installing SP2, and no luck at all. These are the chipset drivers that I downloaded http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070

I have no clue what is wrong at all. The weird thing is when I installed Windows Vista yesterday, I did not have to load any drivers of any kind, and I looked in AGP and it was enabled. Then I downloaded the Cataylst for Windows Vista, and I had working AGP. Can anyone figure out why I cannot enable it from this information?

8T8

Here is what I would try

Step1) Install latest bios and clear CMOS manually afterwords. Setup your bios again after that.

Step2) Download Driver Cleaner but don't run it yet, go into add/remove and uninstall the ATI display driver and control panel then reboot.

Step3) After the reboot and back in Windows ignore the prompts for display driver and run Driver Cleaner and remove any remnants of ATI display driver.

Step5) Re-install ATI Catalyst 6.6 driver.

Step6) After reboot install Direct-X 9 April 2006 update.

Now see if it is still disabled.

DamoKen

sorry for the late reply, wasn't home yesterday evening. think 8T8 has covered all bases there. As to your question on SP2, it should only be necessary to install the service pack if like me you have a pre service pack version of WinXp, otherwise the one you have should be fine.

crossya0va

8T8 wrote:

Here is what I would try

Step1) Install latest bios and clear CMOS manually afterwords. Setup your bios again after that.

Step2) Download Driver Cleaner but don't run it yet, go into add/remove and uninstall the ATI display driver and control panel then reboot.

Step3) After the reboot and back in Windows ignore the prompts for display driver and run Driver Cleaner and remove any remnants of ATI display driver.

Step5) Re-install ATI Catalyst 6.6 driver.

Step6) After reboot install Direct-X 9 April 2006 update.

Now see if it is still disabled.

STILL DISABLEDDDD
What could the problem possibly be????

8T8

Still disabled after that

Well not sure what could be the cause now, you done pretty much what is the standard practice to resolve this kind of problem.

Try setting this in your bios under AGP & P2P Bridge Control;
AGP Aperture size – double whatever RAM is on your graphics card
AGP 2.0 Mode - 4x
AGP Driving Control - Auto
AGP Fast Writes - Disabled
AGP Master 1 WS Write - Enabled
AGP Master 1 WS Read - Enabled
AGP Calibration 3.0 Cycle - Disabled
DBI Output for AGP Trans - Disabled

Then go into SmartGart in the Catalyst Control Center & click on "ReTest All". After the reboot see if the setting holds and Texture Acceleration is enabled.

You could also try manually re-installing the VIA AGP driver you should see it under system devices in the device manager.